Some singers own the stage but Mirenda Rosenberg is famous for owning the stage, the dance floor and sometimes the audience's personal space when she performs!

The experience of relocating to Ireland in 2005 from the United States helped make the new album 'Placeholder', a rich gumbo of musical flavours and tones. The upcoming launch follows a busy couple of years since forming her band in 2007. The charismatic singer has showcased her vocal talents and performance skills throughout Ireland and even opened for the legendary Chuck Berry on two separate occasions.

Mirenda's vocal dexterity and lyrical skills are evident in the diverse collection of songs. On the duet, 'Puppet', her syrupy vocals tease the listener with the seductive opener “I'm a puppet on a string for you/secret little rendezvous leave me dizzy.”

She also evokes the blues tradition on the likes of 'Good Woman', which adopts the bourbon-fuelled swagger of early electrified blues. Its insistent guitar provides an earthy backdrop for Mirenda's vocals. The defiant refrain of “The blues ain't nothing but a good woman feeling bad” is like a call to arms for this emotive album.

This good woman may feel bad but she sounds damn good!

Born in Springfield, Illinois, Mirenda grew up outside Washington DC. Raised the daughter of an ordained minister, Mirenda's musical influences were initially restricted to Christian and classical music. The discovery of jazz and blues on her older brother's radio opened up a whole new musical soundscape and introduced her to the likes of Billie Holliday and Bessie Smith - formative influences who remained constant companions on her musical journey.

"I was too young to understand the content of their music, but I couldn't miss the spirit of it. I'd listen to the jazz and blues station then I'd get a hair brush for a microphone, stand on the hearth of the fireplace, and give full on performances to a stuffed animal audience. Even at that age I had songs in me that needed to get out and I'd make up tunes. If my parents wandered into the room my jazz songs became gospel music. I could get very holy very quickly.”

Her early talents were recognised when she was asked to perform a gospel solo in church at the age of four. The precocious young soloist had to be talked down from the pulpit when her improvised song showed no sign of ending!

Classical training followed and Mirenda toured the States with a number of choirs throughout her teens before studying Vocal Performance at college. While there, she started to sing jazz at weekends to earn extra money and relished in the freedom and the refreshing intimacy that this musical sideline offered.

"I knew then I wasn't cut out for Opera. If I have a choice between big Wagnerian Horn Helmet head and an evening dress with flowers in my hair - the evening dress wins hands down. I want to be able to connect to my audience - I need to be able to walk up to someone, look them in the eye and share myself with them or talk to the woman in the crowd who looks like she's having a bad day. I can't do that pumping out an aria. More than anything else I need to be able to croon what I'm feeling - jazz, soul, funk, blues or whatever I'm feeling.”

Appearances on BBC and TG4, gigs at the Derry Jazz Festival and the Cork Jazz Festival and a recent sold out series of dates have followed. It all feeds into her love of music and need to perform.

"I love music in a way that is sick!" Mirenda explains. "If I could, I would marry it, make a life with it so we could have little notes of our very own. It's all about music, performing, and connecting for me. I'm like a spider, I lure you into my web and you can't help but stay there…but instead of sucking you dry after a gig I hope you'll want to take me home for a glass of wine and a chat – or at least some tea.”

The Band
Allan Cooke - Acoustic & Electric Guitar
Emmet Brady - Bass
Kevin Lowery - Drums & Percussion
Marc Geagan - Electric Guitar

Additional Musicians
Scott McGettigan - Additional Percussion (Track 6)
Stephen Gallagher - Bass (Tracks 2, 3, 4, & 6)
Patrick Cerighetti - Double Bass
Enda Ferriter - Keys (Tracks 4 & 8)
Roisin Atcheson & Kieran Whelan - Backing Vocals
Sean McCarron – All Saxophones
Donal McGuinness - Trombone
Claire Cunningham - 1st Violin
Maureen McGranaghan - 2nd Violin
Jenny Stewart - Viola
Naoimh Doherty – Cello
String Arrangement for Only Human By: John Drummond
Brass Arrangements By: Donal McGuinness

Special MRB Gratitude (in no particular order):
Patsy O’Kane, Dave Power, Seamus O’Doherty,Billy Fitzgerald, Bernard Tohill, Zac Drummond,Jennifer Dupree, Jenga, Ciaran Patton, The Cooke Family, Ian Sands, Oisin Cannon, Johnny Gallagher, Matt Jennings, John Kane, Mark Black, Ronan O’Callaghan, Brian Sweeney, Aine O’Doherty, Studio Duck, Adrian Dunbar, Sean Dorrian, Michael Christie, Conga Man, Jason Foyle, Daveth & Trish at Mindscape, The Rare Groove Funk Orchestra, Maura Logue & all at The Abbey Centre, Greg Gorman, Séan Debny and BBC Radio.